Vice President Information Technology

Vantage Specialty Chemicals; Deerfield (IL); Hybrid; USD 180,000 - 320,000; Full time

Job summary

Vantage Specialty Chemicals in Deerfield, IL seeks an experienced Vice President of Information Technology to lead global technology, ERP, data, and infrastructure, reporting to the CFO and driving transformation across the enterprise. The role emphasizes enterprise-wide integration, governance, and business transformation rather than isolated IT projects.

The VP will partner with senior leaders to align processes with technology strategy, manage the global IT organization, and ensure scalable

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree required; Master’s preferred.
• 15+ years in technology leadership with ERP/enterprise apps and large-scale transformations.
• Experience in chemical manufacturing or complex global manufacturing is strongly preferred.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute enterprise IT strategy aligned with business goals and growth.
• Serve as enterprise integrator across ERP, applications, data, and tech partners.
• Lead ERP strategy, modernization, and system integrations with standardization and data integrity.

Skills

ERP strategy

Enterprise architecture

Leadership

Cybersecurity

Budget management

Education

Bachelor’s degree in IT/CS

Master’s degree preferred

Tools

Dynamics 365

SAP

Oracle

Job description

We are seeking an experienced and business-oriented Vice President of Information Technology (VP of IT) to lead the company’s global technology organization and serve as the connective point across a complex enterprise application, ERP, data, infrastructure, and business landscape. This critical role will report to the Chief Financial Officer and will lead the technology transformation, ensure best in class data and analytics platforms, and ensure implementation of critical automation and company-wide leverage of AI where applicable.

This role requires more than traditional IT leadership. The VP of IT will be responsible for bringing together business processes, technology platforms, data, teams, and implementation partners into a cohesive enterprise architecture and operating model. The successful candidate will be comfortable operating in an environment with multiple business functions, locations, legal entities, legacy applications, and ERP platforms while establishing a clear path toward greater standardization, integration, and scalability.

A significant focus of the role will be ensuring that ERP and enterprise technology initiatives are designed and executed as business transformations rather than isolated technology projects. The VP of IT will work closely with executive leadership and functional leaders across Finance, Supply Chain, Manufacturing, Commercial, Procurement, HR, and other areas to understand how processes intersect across the organization and ensure technology decisions support the end-to-end business.

The role is global in scope and currently includes five direct reports, with a broader IT organization distributed across domestic and international locations.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Develop and execute an enterprise IT strategy aligned with the company’s business strategy, growth objectives, and operational priorities.
• Serve as the enterprise integrator across business functions, ERP platforms, applications, data, infrastructure, and technology partners, ensuring individual initiatives work together as part of a cohesive technology ecosystem.
• Lead the strategy, implementation, modernization, and optimization of ERP and other critical enterprise platforms, with a strong emphasis on process standardization, system integration, data integrity, and sustainable architecture.
• Establish a clear roadmap for navigating a complex technology landscape that may include multiple ERP systems, legacy platforms, third-party applications, integrations, and differing business processes across locations and business units.
• Partner with executive and functional leadership to understand end-to-end business processes, identify gaps and dependencies, and translate business requirements into practical technology strategies and solutions.
• Provide strong governance over major transformation programs, ensuring decisions made within individual workstreams support the broader enterprise architecture and do not create unnecessary complexity or technical debt.
• Oversee the planning and execution of major IT initiatives and projects, ensuring appropriate scope, governance, resources, risk management, and accountability for delivery.
• Create alignment between business process owners, internal IT teams, implementation partners, software vendors, and other stakeholders involved in enterprise transformation initiatives.
• Lead and develop the global IT organization, creating clear accountability while fostering collaboration, strong business partnership, technical excellence, and continuous improvement.
• Establish technology and architecture standards that balance global consistency with legitimate local business and regulatory requirements.
• Strengthen the company’s data and integration strategy to improve the flow of information between systems and provide reliable information for operational and executive decision-making.
• Ensure the reliability, scalability, security, and resilience of the company’s technology environment, including infrastructure, applications, integrations, and data.
• Maintain an effective cybersecurity and IT risk management program aligned with the company’s operational and regulatory requirements.
• Manage strategic relationships with technology vendors, implementation partners, and managed service providers, ensuring accountability for quality, cost, performance, and business outcomes.
• Develop and manage the global IT budget and investment portfolio, ensuring technology spending is prioritized against business value, operational risk, and strategic objectives.
• Establish effective IT governance, project portfolio management, architecture governance, and decision-making processes across the organization.
• Act as a trusted advisor to executive leadership on technology strategy, transformation priorities, operational risks, and opportunities to improve the business through technology.

Education & Experience

Education: Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, or a related field required. Master’s degree preferred.

Experience

• 15+ years of progressively responsible technology experience, including significant leadership responsibility for IT teams, enterprise systems, and large-scale transformation initiatives.
• Demonstrated experience leading complex ERP implementations, modernization programs, or enterprise application transformations in organizations with multiple business units, locations, systems, or operating models.
• Experience operating at the intersection of technology, business process, organizational change, and program execution.
• Experience within chemical manufacturing, process manufacturing, or another complex global manufacturing environment is strongly preferred.

Knowledge, Skills, & Talents

• Extensive experience with enterprise ERP platforms such as Microsoft Dynamics 365, SAP, Oracle, or comparable systems.
• Strong understanding of how ERP supports end-to-end business processes across Finance, Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Procurement, Commercial, and related functions.
• Ability to see across individual systems and projects and understand how architecture, business processes, integrations, data, and organizational decisions affect the broader enterprise.
• Demonstrated ability to simplify and rationalize complex application and ERP environments while maintaining business continuity.
• Strong program and project leadership capabilities with a track record of successfully delivering complex, multi-functional technology initiatives.
• Ability to establish effective governance across internal teams, business stakeholders, system integrators, and technology vendors.
• Strong understanding of enterprise architecture, system integration, data management, cybersecurity, infrastructure, and IT governance.
• Exceptional ability to translate between technical teams and business leadership, ensuring technology discussions remain focused on business outcomes.
• Strong leadership skills with the ability to build high-performing teams and create accountability across both direct and matrixed organizations.
• Excellent analytical, problem-solving, decision-making, and organizational skills.
• Executive-level communication and interpersonal skills, including the ability to influence across functions and levels of the organization.
• Ability to operate effectively in an environment undergoing significant business and technology transformation, balancing immediate operational requirements with the development of a scalable long-term technology foundation.

Working Conditions

Office hybrid model based in Deerfield headquarters with ability to travel to sites locally/globally as necessary.